Mafia's Blind Queen

That afternoon, Evelyn Moretti counted the steps leading up to her house. She counted from one to twenty. Her palm traced the cold wall she’d known since childhood.

She also caught the scent of lavender from the housekeeper’s soap mingling with the fragrance of the lilies that were beginning to wilt in the living room vase.

The house was still the same. Very luxurious and quite spacious. Unfortunately, it never felt like home.

Evelyn shifted her white cane forward. She smiled slightly as she recalled one of her students at the rehabilitation center, who earlier that afternoon had managed to play a simple song with both hands for the first time.

“Miss Evelyn, when I grow up, I want to be a pianist like Mrs. Celeste,” the little girl had told Evelyn.

Evelyn could still hear that innocent voice. Her heart warmed. Her mother in heaven would surely be proud of her. However, that warmth vanished in an instant.

The sound of something shattering echoed from her father’s working room. Evelyn stopped in her tracks. Then, she heard a shout she’d never heard before.

“I told you, I need time!” Richard Moretti snapped.

“What did you say? Time?” a strange voice replied harshly.

“Yes, I’m begging you. Tell the Boss to give me time to pay it off,” Richard pleaded, whining in front of a group of strangers in his own home.

“Do you think we’re a charity?” another unfamiliar voice replied even more harshly, impatiently. “Three billion dollars, Richard. You lost at gambling, and now you’re asking for more time after the deadline has passed?”

Evelyn’s heart began to race.

‘Gambling?’ Evelyn repeated to herself, muttering in confusion. ‘Dad gambles?’

Her hand clenched around the cane’s handle. Evelyn never would have imagined her father would do something so despicable.

“Please help me!” Richard’s voice turned hoarse. “My business is struggling right now. But I promise, I’ll definitely be able to pay it back.”

“When?” the man sneered. “Next month? Next year?”

A momentary silence made Evelyn hold her breath. Then the sound of high heels approaching filled the air. Hurriedly, Evelyn hid herself, though she continued to listen to their conversation.

“Oh, my God,” Isabella sighed dramatically. “I told you not to touch that gambling table. Why won’t you listen to me?”

“You think this is my fault?” Richard growled after his wife, Isabella, kept blaming him.

“Then whose fault is it?” Isabella retorted sharply. “Ever since your wealthy ex-wife died, everything’s gone to hell like this.”

“What do you know, huh?” Richard grew even angrier after Isabella brought up his late ex-wife.

Evelyn froze. The woman they were talking about was her mother.

“If only Celeste had taken her child with her when she died fifteen years ago,” Isabella continued coldly. “Our lives wouldn’t be this shattered.”

It felt as if an invisible hand were squeezing Evelyn’s heart. She didn’t move. She didn’t cry. She didn’t make a sound. Because for her, this wasn’t the first time.

“That’s true,” Sophia’s voice rang out, accompanied by a small laugh. “That blind woman really is a bad luck charm.”

Evelyn bowed her head. Twenty-three long years. Twenty-three years living in this house. Even after her mother had passed away and she had gone blind, they still considered her presence a curse.

Evelyn bit her lower lip hard, trying to stay strong in the face of reality. Don’t cry. Don’t let yourself cry.

“Don’t cry! Please,” Evelyn said softly, trying to calm herself down.

Evelyn had cried alone far too often. Now, she was starting to get used to it.

“Enough! Stop making excuses, Richard! Pay your debt quickly if you still want to live in peace.” One of the burly men in ties began to take action.

“Wait a minute! We can work something out,” Richard interjected fearfully. He tried to negotiate again, buying time.

“We don’t care about your family drama,” the stranger’s voice rang out again. “We just want our money back.”

“I already told you, I’ll pay it later,” Richard snapped.

“With what?”

There was an instant silence. Richard stammered, trying to come up with another excuse.

It was a long silence—so long that Evelyn could hear the ticking of the antique clock in the hallway.

Then, the man laughed softly.

“If you can’t pay,” he said casually, “hand over one of your most valuable assets.”

“What do you mean?” Richard asked, confused.

“I hear you have a very beautiful daughter.”

The world seemed to stop spinning. Evelyn didn’t realize she had taken a step back.

“No way!” Isabella exclaimed. “Evelyn?”

“She’s blind!” Sophia, standing next to Isabella, replied quickly. “Who would want a disabled woman like her?”

The man chuckled. “That’s none of my business.”

“Your debt must be paid.”

“We’ll take anything of value from you.”

Evelyn’s heart was pounding. “No. That’s impossible,” she protested.

Richard couldn’t possibly do that. He was a terrible father. He had never acknowledged Evelyn’s existence since her mother died.

“Dad, you’re so cruel,” Evelyn whispered, her voice barely audible.

Evelyn waited quite a while. Waiting for Richard to object and reject the deal. Waiting for the man to say no. Waiting for a single sentence that would prove she still mattered to her family.

But all that came was a heavy sigh. Then, her father’s voice sounded flat. Without regret. Without the slightest hesitation. As if he were talking about an inanimate object. Something worthless to the Moretti family.

“If that can pay off my debt,” Richard paused for a moment, “just take Evelyn.”

The white cane slipped from Evelyn’s grip. It fell, clattering against the marble floor.

The sound echoed throughout the house. For the first time since losing her sight fifteen years ago, Evelyn felt completely alone.

Since that night, Evelyn had finally understood. Her mother had indeed abandoned her. But her father had just chosen to lose his daughter of his own free will.

“How could he be so cruel to me?” Evelyn lamented.

The sound of her cane hitting the floor caught their attention. Everyone was now searching for the source of the sound.

“There she is!” the stranger said with certainty.

“Bring her here!” his voice sounded triumphant.

“No!” Evelyn gasped in panic. She could barely move without her cane. “What am I going to do?”

Evelyn crouched down, her hands feeling the cold marble floor, searching for her white cane that had slipped from her grasp. Her fingertips found only shards of glass from the vase that had been thrown during the argument.

Her breath came in gasps. Where? Where was her cane?

The sound of heavy footsteps began to draw closer.

One.

Two.

Three people.

No... four.

“I won’t do it!” Evelyn cried out as she tried to get to her feet. Her hand knocked into a small table by the hallway, causing a picture frame to fall and shatter. “Don’t touch me!”

“Hurry up and catch her!” the man snapped impatiently.

Evelyn backed away step by step. Without her cane, the dark world she’d always known felt far more terrifying.

“Dad!” her voice cracked. “Help me!”

There was no answer. No footsteps approached to protect her. No voice said that all of this was just a misunderstanding. All she heard was Richard’s exasperated sigh.

“Stop making a scene, Evelyn!”

Evelyn’s body froze. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“Dad,” she whispered softly.

“Just consider this your way of repaying me after twenty-three years of living off my money,” Richard said coldly. “Don’t make things harder for us!”

Something inside Evelyn collapsed instantly.

Then, a large hand gripped her arm.

“Come with us!” the stranger said with a soft laugh.

Evelyn held her breath as her body was forcibly pulled away.

“Let me go!”

Instead, the man gripped Evelyn’s hand even tighter.

“Don’t worry, Miss. We won’t hurt you,” he whispered close to her ear. “Our boss has been waiting for you for a long time.”

“What?” Evelyn’s eyes widened.